"It's a very simple game. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Sometimes it rains."
(Bull Durham)

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Quiet Thursday

-- The Bucs entered their off day just two games behind the St. Louis Cards; early on it looks like no one is going to run away with this year's Central Division. It'll be interesting to see how long the Pirates can hang around this season.

-- The Pirates road record of 11-8 is tied for the most road wins in MLB with Colorado (11-4), the LA Angels (11-7) and the San Fran Giants (11-10).

-- Patrick DiCaprio in USA Today had some nice things to say about Hanny: "Joel Hanrahan might be the best no-name closer in baseball...he is a top-tier NL closer, right there with Heath Bell."

-- Roger Schlueter of MLB.comnoted that Kevin Correia "...is the first Pirates' pitcher since Denny Neagle in 1995 to have five wins through the team's first 31 games."

"He is the first Pirates pitcher since Don Robinson won his first seven in 1982 to open a season by winning his first five starts as a visitor. Since 1920, only two other Pirates pitchers have had a five-game road winning streak to begin the year. Wilbur Cooper opened the season by winning his first 10 road starts in 1920 and Rip Sewell began the 1944 season year by earning a win in each of his first five starts on the road."

-- The Cleveland Indians, who the brass like to emulate so much, are off to a rocket start; they and the Phils have the best records in baseball (20-9).

But while they may be on top of the AL standings, the Tribe are at the bottom of the attendance standings, averaging 14,275 per game. When you've been down so long it's tough to recapture the faithful. Pittsburgh, by the way, is averaging just 17,083 with a much-improved, or at least more entertaining, club than last year's version.

Just an observation that sometimes a team's record and the attendance don't dance to the same drummer.

-- We wonder if the Post Gazette is ever going to mention Ryan Doumit in the paper without the tag-line "tried unsuccessfully to trade" included?

-- Schlueter also observed that in yesterday's Atlanta-Milwaukee doubleheader, old Bucco "...Nate McLouth hit his second home run, had two at-bats, collected two hits, scored two runs, drove in two runs, and drew two walks in the nightcap. The (last) player who went 2-for-2 with two walks, two RBIs and two runs scored in the second game of a doubleheader was the Yankees' Graig Nettles on Sept. 15, 1979."

-- Nathan Adcock, the pitcher the Bucs lost in the Rule 5 draft, has an article about the jump from the Bradenton Marauders to the show and his first month in the bigs.

-- Bill Ballew of MLB.com has an article on the young talent in the South Atlantic ("Sally") League, and his featured player is Jameson Taillon.

2 comments:

Toldja Nate could still play if he could just stay healthy. 20-20 center fielders who are also good defensive players don't grow on trees, and the McLouth trade is still a loss for the Pirates unless Jeff Locke turns into a productive major leaguer. I don't believe in Gorkys Hernandez, and while Charlie Morton's early season work is an unexpected bonus, I don't believe in him, either. At least not until further notice. And even if Morton pans out, only a truly elite pitcher is worth more than a starting position player. So even a good Morton does not equal McLouth, no way. Not a healthy McLouth, at any rate.

But moving on from there, it looks like Adcock isn't intimidated by the big leagues. He has certainly been used more often and to better effect than I ever thought he would be. I can't think of another pitcher in recent seasons who has made such a dramatic leap up from A-ball to become an established big leaguer---assuming, of course, that Adcock continues to succeed and is in the bigs next year from the get-go.

Yes, this team is definitely more interesting and dramatically better managed than previously. I'll have a more in depth take at the 40 game mark. That's when Sparky Anderson always said you had a good read on your team.

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